Dispelling the Myths About Goitrogens and Thyroid Disease

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What are Goitrogens?

Goitrogens are substances that interfere with the thyroid gland and inhibit thyroid hormone production by inhibiting iodine uptake. Animal studies show that these vegetables can inhibit thyroid hormone production, although, the same evidence is lacking in human studies. Studies in humans have actually found that consuming these vegetables has little or no effect on thyroid hormone production unless a person is deficient in iodine.

Iodine deficiency is very rare in most first world countries. Read more about it here. The effect of goitrogens may only be an issue if you are already deficient in iodine or even in selenium. There are far more benefits to consuming these superfoods than avoiding them.

What are cruciferous vegetables?

Cruciferous vegetables belong to the Brassica family of vegetables. Cruciferous vegetables are rich in goitrogens . They are some of the most nutritionally dense foods that we consume. These foods are rich in antioxidants and phytonutrients that protect against various diseases such as, cardiovascular disease and cancer. These include:

Arugula Broccoli

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Broccolini Bok Choy Brussels Sprouts Cabbage/ Chinese cabbage Canola/ Canola oil Cauliflower Choy sum Collard greens Horseradish Kale Kohlrabi Mizuna Mustard/ Mustard Greens Radishes Rapini Rutabaga Turnips Wasabi Watercress

Other Goitrogenic Foods

Bamboo shoots Cassava Millet Peaches Peanuts Pears Pine Nuts Rapeseed Soy Spinach Strawberries Sweet potato Tatsoi

How to minimize the effect of goitrogenic foods

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If you are concerned about goitrogenic foods, there are certain methods to minimize their potential harm to the thyroid.

1.Cook you vegetable Cooking cruciferous vegetables can decrease the amount of goitrogens. Although cooking can also destroy their beneficial health effects. To preserve as much nutrition, lightly steaming your cruciferous vegetables is the best cooking method. When consuming them in the raw state, the goitrogen content is at it’s highest.

2.Avoid juicing Juicing cruciferous vegetables allows goitrogenic compounds to be absorbed by your body more rapidly and at a greater concentration. Therefore juicing can be very beneficial to get your daily dose of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Although if you are concerned about goitrogenic foods, you may want to avoid drinking juice containing cruciferous vegetables.

In summary, we still do not know the full health implications. Some professionals state that goitrogens don’t matter in those who take medications. Although if you are not taking medications or taking a low dose (where your thyroid is still making some of it’s own hormone), then you will be more sensitive to the effects of cruciferous vegetables. If you are taking a high dose, eating raw cruciferous vegetables should not matter. One sign to look out for is if you feel cold - this may indicate that you ate too much of the cruciferous vegetables. Soy and canola should be avoided since they are two of the top four genetically modified crops. Canola is also highly processed and so are some forms of soy. Soy also blocks the activity of the TPO enzyme. Soy has also been linked to autoimmune thyroiditis and should be avoided by those with Hashimoto’s. Most people should be able to eat most goitrogens (except soy and canola), even in their raw state. Although if you feel you are sensitive to goitrogens, please prepare them as stated above.

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